Decoy



DECOY Filed Dec. 16, 1944 INVENTOR. W114. /AM P. JOHNJON firroremsv;

Patented Jan. 27, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DECOY William. R-.. J ohnson, Seattle Wash.

Application December 16, 1944, Serial No: 568,444

I This invention relates to improvements in decoy ducks, or the like,for example, to decoys as used by hunters and sportsmen, anddesigned tobe floated on a- Iahe, stream or other body of water for the purpose ofattracting live fowl to that location.

More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in decoyducksof that kind and character described and illustrated in my UnitedStates Patent No. 1,062,703, issued May 27, 1913',

which discloses a decoy duck that is made from a single piece of watertreated cardboard or fiber board, cut and folded to provide a decoy bodyof a shape and size corresponding substantially to that of the fowl thatit is to attract and within which formed body, a piece of wood or shortlength of board is contained or secured to give the decoy its desiredfloating buoyancy in the water.

Heretofore, it has been a practice to so anchor such decoys in the waterthat they will head into the stream or wind, and to suspend weights ofsuitable kind from the floating board as a means of giving the decoy acertain desired ballast that w-il} prevent the decoy from being blownover or from having too much movement due to breeze or to the watersbeing rough or choppy for any reason.

- One type of such decoy is now equipped with a weight or pendulum,fixed to the floating board by a stiff wire. However, it has generallybeen impractical and undesirable to use attached weights or pendulums ofany kind to the board because of the fact that they interfere withcollapsing' of the decoy for storage and packing, and also aredetrimental to the stacking or storing of the board should they beremoved from the decoy body for independent: storage.

In view of the above objections, and for" other reasons, it has been theprincipal object of this invention to provide improvements in decoys ofthose types? to be floated in water and made: from water treatedcardboard or fiber board, and which employ a floatboarct therein,particularly in the provision of novel means giving the 8- Claims. (Cl.43-3) conditions, keep the decoy from being blown over decoy use therequired ballast without necesto provide a water retaining pocket. inthe base portion of the body that will become: filled with waterincident to placing the decoy inastream or on the. lake, and; cause thispocket contained water to serve as ballast: that under normal and willalso prevent its bobbing around on the Water too much action when thewater is rough or choppy.

It is also an obiect of the invention to provide decoys having thoseseveral features above men. tioned and. from. which the float board. maybe easily and readily withdrawn for their compact assembly for packingand storage, and the" body portions: then. collapsed and stored inminimum space or carried in the pocket of the ordinary hunting coat, orwhich decoys may be collapsed with the: board therein to a flat package.for convenient storage in limited space.

Other objects of the invention are to bev found in the details orconstruction of parts of the decoy, in its: preferred form. and invarious modified forms; Also' in the construction and combination ofparts in use, as will hereinafter be fully described.

In accomplishing these and; other objects of the invention, 1 haveprovided; the improved details of construction, the preferred forms ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawingawherein- Fig. l is aside view of a duck decoy embodying novel: features or the presentinvention.

Fig; 1a is; an end: view of the decoy of Fig, 1;.

Fig. 2 is: a. cross sectional View of the same, taken online 2-2 in Fig1.

Fig- 3 is a perspective view of. the float board removed from the decoybody.

Fig. 4 is, a longitudinal, sectional View ofa decoy of an alternative.type of construction.

Fla. 51 is a cross: section taken on line 5-5 in Eigtqa Fig, 6* is a.perspective View of: the. float board of the. decoyot Fig. 4.-

Fig. '25 is a view illustrating the manner of col"- lapsing the decoybody with'float board removed therefrorm.

Fig. 8 illustrates the collapsing of the decoy body with: a float boardin place therein.

Fig; 9 is: a. cross sectional: detail showing the ballast: pocket.

Referring more: in detail to: the drawings First: describing the decoyillustrated in Figs. L and 2: The decoy body com-prises a single pieceor water treated or water resistant fiber board or cardboard, or it maybe other suitable sheet material that is cut to a predetermined shapeand folded along spaced longitudinal lines to assume a. substantiallytriangular cross sectional shape as shown in- Fig. 2, withfreeedgesregistered and permanently'joiued. 1

In its folded and secured condition of triangular cross sectional shape,the decoy body is open at its ends and has a rectangular base or bottomsection I, and it has the two opposite side sections 2 and 2', integraltherewith and folded upwardly therefrom along its opposite edges, andthese opposite side parts are brought together, registered one with theother, and secured together preferably by staples 3 which are appliedthereto as has been illustrated in Fig. 1. Other suitable means mightlikewise be used to join these edges.

It is observed in Figs. 1 and 4 that the opposite side sections 2 and 2'of the decoy body forming strip are shaped to resemble a duck in sideview and preferably they would be printed, marked or' otherwise giventhe natural characteristics and I A stifl, upright leg 4 is affixedbetween the head forming portions 2a and 2a of the two side sections[and 2; this leg being held in place by the application of rivets 3therethrough. The lower end of this leg is free and is adapted to bewedgingly engaged with the top surface of a float board and spacer 6that is applied within the decoy body in a'horizontal position and closeto the bottom section I as shown in Fig. 2, or as used in Fig. 5.

The float board 5, as used both in the decoy of Fig. 1 and that of Fig.4, is of a definite width and definite length and when applied withinthe decoy body will hold the side sections-thereof spaced apart and willdraw the side and bottom sections taut. The leg 4, when in place as inFig. 2, will hold the board pressed down near the bottom section I. Onits under side, the board'has cross cleats 8 and 8' fixed thereto inspaced relationship as means for holding the body section I spacedsomewhat from the board, and also to define a pocket or chamber betweenthem and 'between'the board and bottom l for holding a quantity of wateras ballast.

While I have shown two cleats applied across the board, it isanticipated, as an alternative means, to provide only one cross cleat,which would be placed near the forward end of the board or forward ofthe longitudinal center, merely to hold the bottom section I of thedecoy body spaced from the board in a manner whereby a pocket for waterballast is maintained. This water, to a certain extent, becomes a deadweight that gives steadiness to the decoy and also prevents its beingeasily tipped over by wind.

In another instance, it might be desired as an alternative, to provide asingle, centrally located and longitudinally extended strip on the underside of the board, or, as yet another alternative, to place a centrallongitudinal strip between the cleats 8-8 of the board shown in Fig. 3;such a longitudinal strip being indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 atl3.

Various other applications of spacing strips might be employed to definewater ballast pockets underneath the board, and it will be understoodthat when they are water-filled, the water becomes dead weight ballastthat will bring the floating decoy back to natural position on the waterwhen tilted by wind currents, and will also be a means of preventing thedecoy from being too freely actuated in the ater, particularly as causedby gusty breezes or choppy. uneven water.

As an alternative means of providing such water ballast Pockets betweenthe float board and the bottom section of the decoy body, I provide aboard attachment as illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. This comprises astiff piece of wire l5 that is applied along the under side centrally ofthe forward end portion of the board, and this wire is secured rotatablyin place by staples or the like l6 that are driven into the board overthe wire. Intermediate its ends, this length of wire is formed with anoffset or eccentric crank portion [8, and at its forward end is formedinto a loop l9 serving as a handle whereby the wire may be rotated. Atits rearward end, the wire terminates in a laterally directed hookportion 20, which, by rotation of the wire to a position that will causethe eccentric portion to extend directly down from the board surface,will be caused to extend upwardly through a hole 22 in the board. Then,by pulling the wire forwardly, the hook will be caused to engage overthe forward edge of the opening to hold the eccentric in its downwardposition. By rotating the wire in this manner, whereby the crank portionis turned vertically downward, as in Fig. 5, the bottom section I of thedecoy body will be pressed away from the board and a pocket between themwill be formed for ballast water. To collapse the wire against theboard, it is only necessary to push it rearwardly, thus to disengage thehook 2B and then the wire may be rotated to place the eccentric flatlyagainst the bottom of the board, as shown in Fig. 6.

As an alternative, such a wire might be extended the full length of theboard 5, or to any desired length, and provided with two or more offsetcrank portions. The loop i9 at the forward end of the wire may beemployed for attaching a cord as at 25 for anchoring purposes.

In use of decoys of this kind, when it is desired that they shall becollapsed, the float board or spacer may be withdrawn therefrom and oneside section of the duck body pressed inwardly and folded back uponitself as shown in Fig. 7, thus permitting both sides of the body to befolded flatly down against the bottom section, or if it is desired notto remove the board, the same folding action can be accomplished, as hasbeen shown in Fig. 8. In such folding with the board in place, morespace is required for storage purposes.

To erect the decoy for use, the folded body is opened up, the board 5inserted and the head supporting leg moved into upright position to giverigidity to the decoy and hold the board in place.

The main feature of this invention resides in the provision of means forforming and maintaining the water ballast pocket and in view of thedisclosure of various ways of accomplishing this, it is not desired toconfine the claims to any specific means, but to cover the inventionboth specifically and broadly.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A decoy of the character described comprising a decoy body, open atits ends and having spaced opposite side walls joined together at theirupper edges and a bottom wall connecting the side walls at their loweredges, a float disposed within the body for its functional support inwater and wedged between the side walls and means for retaining thebottom wall spaced from the float to provide a water ballast retainingpocket between them.

2. A decoy of the character described comprising a water resistant stripof material, in the 3. A decoy of the character described comprising awater resistant strip of material in the form of a decoy body open atits ends and having a horizontal bottom section and opposite sides thatare joined with the longitudinal edges of the bottom section and areinclined toward each other and joined together at their upper edges, anda flat plate of buoyant material removably applied within the body as ahorizontal spacer for the side Walls and as a float for the .functionalsupport of the decoy in water; said plate having cleats affixed to itsunder side whereby to retain the bottom section spaced from the float todefine water ballast retaining space between them.

4. A decoy of the character described comprising a Water resistant stripof material in the form of a decoy body open at its ends and having ahorizontal bottom section and upwardly and inwardly inclined oppositesides that are joined at their lower edges with the longitudinal edgesof the bottom section, and a flat plate of buoyant material removablywedged between the side walls of the body as a horizontal spacer for theside walls and as a float for the functional support of the decoy inwater; said plate having cross cleats fixed to its under side in spacedrelationship in its longitudinal direction to retain the bottom sectionspaced from the float to define water ballast pocket between them.

5. A decoy of the character described comprising a water resistant stripof material in the form of a decoy body open at its ends and having ahorizontal bottom section and upwardly and inwardly inclined oppositesides that are joined at their lower edges with the longitudinal edgesof the bottom section, and a flat plate of buoyant material removablywedged between the side walls of the body as a horizontal spacer for theside walls and as a float for the functional support of the decoy inwater; said plate having a" wire shaft fixed rotatably thereto on itsunder side and extending in its longitudinal direction, and formed withan eccentric whereby the bottom section may be held spaced from thefloat to define a water ballast retaining pocket between them.

6. A decoy of the character described comprising a water resistant stripof material in the form of a decoy body open at its ends and having ahorizontal bottom section and opposite sides that are joined with thelongitudinal edges of the bottom section, and a flat plate of buoyantmaterial removably applied within the body as a horizontal spacer forthe side walls and as a float for the functional support of the decoy inwater; said plate having a wire shaft fixed rotatably thereto on itsunder side and extending in its longitudinal direction, and formed withan eccentric whereby the bottom section may be held spaced from thefloat to define a water ballast retaining pocket between them, and saidwire shaft being rotatable to dispose the eccentric portion flatlyagainst the under side of the float.

7. A decoy of the character described comprising a water resistant stripof material in the form of a decoy body open at its ends and having ahorizontal bottom section and opposite sides that are joined with thelongitudinal edges of the bottom section, and a flat plate of buoyantmaterial removably applied within the body as a horizontal spacer forthe side walls and as a float for the functional support of the decoy inwater; said plate having a wire shaft fixed rotatably thereto on itsunder side and extending in its longitudinal direction, and formed withan eccentric whereby the bottom section may be held spaced from thefloat to define a water ballast retaining pocket between them, said Wireshaft being rotatable to dispose the eccentric portion flatly againstthe under side of the float, and said shaft being formed at one end witha hooklike portion adapted by longitudinal shifting of the wire shaft,to be engaged with the plate body to hold the shaft against rotationwhen the eccentric is in position to hold the bottom section spaced fromthe float.

8. A decoy of the character described comprising a water resistant stripof stifi bendable material, in the form of a decoy body having ahorizontal bottom section and opposite side sections that continue fromthe opposite edges of the bottom section, and are joined at their topedges to form a hollow decoy body that is open at its ends andsubstantially of triangular cross section, a buoyant float in the formof a fiat plate, applied within the body as a horizontal spacer for theside Walls; said plate being disposed adjacent the bottom sections,means on the plate to retain the bottom section spaced therefrom andprovide a water ballast retaining pocket formed between them, and asupporting leg fixed between the top edges of opposite sides of the bodymaterial and adapted to bear at its lower end against the plate toretain the body against collapse.

WILLIAM R. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 696,621 Baarsen Apr. 1, 1902757,384 Young Apr. 12, 1904 775,545 Riggs Nov. 22, 1904 1,469,618 BaileyOct. 2, 1923 1,598,619 Reynolds Sept. 7, 1926 1,604,615 Stoner Oct. 26,1926 1,663,009 Johnson Mar. 20, 1928 1,697,465 Kempf Jan. 1, 19291,746,640 Emofi Feb. 11, 1930 2,201,164 Fox May 21, 1940

